New Drexel University computing college to open next fall

Drexel hopes the new college can help decipher and create high-tech advances.

Drexel will add a College of Computing and Informatics.Credit: Metro file photo

Generation Joystick, the gobs of young people who fiddle with gadgets and frolic in virtual reality, have forced Drexel University's hand.

The university announced this week plans to add a new school — the College of Computing and Informatics — to foster technological innovation as well as address its challenges.

"I think society has moved us this way," said David Fenske, who was chosen as the school's dean.

Fenske named three parts — the rapid growth and variety of computing devices; the large amounts of data and misinformation broadcast to people who can't adequately interpret the information; and the lack of access to these devices for many Americans — that has provided an opportunity for the college to dedicate space to study the impact of technology more in depth.

"I think these three things have really forced computing and information together in this kind of joined, applied domain," Fenske said.

The new college, which will open next fall, is a consolidation of the College of Information Science and Technology, the Department of Computer Science, and the Department of Computing and Security Technology. About 2,200 students are expected to enroll in its inaugural year.

"What I think we've done here," he said, "is both reflect what happened in society, and to better prepare students to engage in enterprises and innovations of that society."